On Puma Parent Day, adults revisit high school to see what, how their teens are learning

Some Chaparral High School students were a little embarrassed to have their parents follow them around school last week for Puma Parent Day, but most were excited to have Mom or Dad come to class to see what a typical day at high school is like.

Andrew Madera, a senior whose mom, Dawn Madera, attended his ceramics and wildlife biology classes, said he was glad to have his mother along.

“I want her to see what we go through, how our day works,” Andrew said as his mom sat at his table during biology and waited for her turn to examine a sea star the students were passing around the classroom.

Puma Parent Day at Chaparral High School in Temecula allows parents and other relatives to “shadow” their students for all or part of the day. Parents attend class with their children to get a dose of reality about attending high school decades after their own school days. Puma Parent Day — named for the school’s mascot, the puma — began at Chaparral four years ago in conjunction with the national PTA “Take Your Family to School Week,” and Chaparral High is the only public high school in Temecula to hold such an event.

Puma Parent Day is sponsored by the school’s Parent Teacher Student Association, and the second of two Puma Parent Days this school year was held Jan. 28. Overall, 421 adults attended, said Barbara Burkett, Chaparral’s PTSA vice president of programs. The school has about 3,000 students.

The first Puma Parent Day this year was held in September, and more than 400 adults, including parents, grandparents and guardians, attended classes with students, she said.

“It has grown incrementally each year,” Burkett said.

Joining Burkett in coordinating the parent visits was PTSA President Brenda Coalter, who attended her freshman son Joey’s first-period health class. She also has a daughter, Amy, who is a senior.

“My husband is here with my senior, and she’s totally excited,” Coalter said, adding that her son had mixed feelings about it.

“I love coming,” said Dawn Madera, who has attended the event with Andrew in previous years, taking time off from her job as a bookkeeper. “I think it’s important for the teachers to see you engaging your kids. And it’s important for your kids to see you care.”

Mom Diana Young has attended before, too, to follow daughter Alyssa, a junior. Diana went to Alyssa’s classes and sat behind a computer with her daughter for her photography class.

“I enjoy it. It’s fun to see what the kids go through,” Diana Young said.

Alyssa said she wasn’t really embarrassed that her mom was present. “I’ll embarrass her,” she joked.

Amber Alvarado, a senior, said it was the first time her mom, Maria Alvarado, had attended Puma Parent Day, which has been held twice a year for the past two years instead of just once per school year, as it was when it started.

Amber said many seniors want a parent to attend, but freshmen are more embarrassed to have their parents there. Maria Alvarado said, “I want to see their curriculum and what goes on in the classroom. I do feel it’s more challenging than it used to be.”

Joe Pidgeon was among the dads who attended last week, following son Cameron, a junior, to some of his classes.

“My son wanted me to show up. It’s nice to meet with the teachers and see who’s in his classes and who he’s running around with,” he said.